


Adora's Scars

by TheSofterGentlerMe



Series: Finn and The Moms of Power [14]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Abuse discussion, Angst, Comfort/Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-15 18:42:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29440635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSofterGentlerMe/pseuds/TheSofterGentlerMe
Summary: When you go to Mystacor, you're either a sorcerer or you're there for the wonderful hot springs and spa treatment. Possibly both. In this case, Catra and Adora have gone with Finn for a little time away and to enjoy the spa treatments but Finn notices Adora's scars and they have some questions for her. The answer is not one they were expecting.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra)
Series: Finn and The Moms of Power [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1862320
Comments: 21
Kudos: 75





	Adora's Scars

**Author's Note:**

> Shall we?

Finn broke the surface of the hot springs pool in Mystacor from their deep dive. They gave a few quick strokes over to the edge of the pool and rested their chin on the mineral buildup that made up the edge and waved at Catra and Adora. Adora waved back with a smile as she relaxed in a smaller pool nearby. Catra sat behind her, tolerating the steam but not getting too close to the pools, as she waved back. 

“I have no idea how they can stand that,” Catra said with a shudder as she watched Finn turn in the pool and dive again. As soon as they’d got into the pool room Finn had gone running for the deepest pool and dove right in before anyone else had even had a chance to put down their robes. 

“I’m kind of curious myself,” Adora said. “I know you and water are lifelong enemies but they actually seem to love it.” 

“Guess if we’d found whoever left them we could have asked them after I was finished kicking them,” Catra said. 

Adora shot her a look as she said, “Don’t let them hear you say that. You know what Perfuma told us.” 

Catra nodded as she said, “Yeah, I know. Easier now that they’re acting like… well…”

“A kid?” Adora said with a smile. 

Catra nodded as she watched Finn break the surface again, take a deep breath, and dive again.

“Now if I can just figure out what they’re doing. Is there anything at the bottom of these pools?” Catra said. 

“Just rock as far as I know,” Adora said. “I think they just like playing in the water.” 

Catra shook her head as she stood up and pulled her robe tight around her. 

“Alright, I’m going to go to that massage thing with Glimmer,” Catra said. “See you at dinner.”

“Alright,” Adora said. “Come give me a kiss?”

Catra looked at the water and then at Adora and carefully scooted in to give her a quick kiss before scooting back. 

“That’s how I know you love me,” Adora said with a grin. 

“You’re absolutely right on that,” Catra said. “See you soon.” 

After she left, Adora sighed as she watched Finn swim around the water for a while before finally getting out and trotting over, dripping water everywhere as they climbed into the small pool with Adora. 

“Where’d Catra go?” Finn said, their eyes a little worried as they looked around. 

“She went to do something with Glimmer,” Adora replied. “We’ll see her at dinner.” 

Finn nodded. They’d been with Catra and Adora for a little over four years now but Adora noticed that the worry about one or the other not being around still jumped up on them occasionally. Finn relaxed though with the reassurance that they were nearby and Adora could hear them muttering to themselves as they named five things they could see, four things they could touch, and on down the list Perfuma had taught them. When they hit the end, they leaned back in the water, their face half under as they blew bubbles. After a few minutes of that they came back up and said, “How come Catra doesn’t go swimming or get in the pools?” 

Adora said, “She doesn’t like water.”

Finn cocked their head to the side like that was the strangest thing they could imagine and said, “Why not?” 

Adora wasn’t sure how much she should reveal but she wanted to be sure and answer their question so she said, “You’ll have to ask her for details but she never liked it much growing up and then she had a really bad experience with it.”

“Ok,” Finn said and went back to splashing a little and blowing bubbles as a few people crossed through the pool room and waved at Adora or stopped to chat for a few moments. Adora sat up out of the pool on the edge to chat with one sorcerer for a few minutes and Finn’s eyes got wide as they saw the scars on Adora’s arms, legs, and chest. When the person went on, Adora turned and saw them staring. 

“Are you alright?” Adora said. 

“What happened?” Finn said quietly, pointing at a particularly gnarly scar on her forearm. They’d seen a few peeking out from Adora’s shirts before but never as prominent as they were now. 

“That’s from a fight I was in when I was in the war,” Adora said, starting to feel self-conscious.

“What about that one?” Finn said, pointing at one across her stomach. 

“That’s from a training accident when I was young,” Adora said with a frown as she traced the scar and remembered falling in the Horde training room and slamming into one of the fake trees.

“What about that one?” Finn said, starting to get interested.

“Finn, you’re just pointing at me,” Adora said, pretty sure she knew where they were pointing but trying to make the moment funny for her own benefit.

“There, the one that looks like that writing you read about at home,” Finn said, poking at their own sternum to show where they meant. 

Adora sighed as she said, “That’s from something called the Failsafe. It was something I carried at the end of the war and it left a mark.” 

“Did they hurt?” Finn said quietly. 

Adora slid into the water and moved over beside them as she said, “Yes, honey, they did but it’s alright, they don’t hurt now. See?”

She held her arm out and poked at the first one Finn had asked about. Finn started to reach out and then stopped and looked at her and Adora nodded. Finn poked carefully at the scar and then ran their finger back and forth over the scar and regular skin next to it. 

“I’m sorry you got hurt,” Finn said. 

“It’s alright. The Failsafe one does ache every once in a while but not badly,” Adora said. “You alright?” 

Finn nodded at her as they said, “I am. I guess I never really noticed before.” 

“No problem. How about we go and see what we can scare up for a snack before dinner?” Adora said as she smiled and slid back across the pool. As she turned her back to Finn she heard them gasp and suddenly remembered the very prominent claw marks on her back. She stood knee deep in the water with her back to Finn for a moment before turning around. 

“How did those happen?” Finn whispered, their eyes wide.

Adora was about to just say that it was a fight and leave it at that when Catra came out of the steam and said, “Those are my fault, kiddo.” 

Finn looked at Catra as she stood at the side of the pool.

“You hurt her?” Finn said, confused. 

“Remember how we told you a little bit about how we fought on opposite sides of the war?” Catra said as Finn nodded.

“You don’t have to…,” Adora started to say. 

“It’s part of who I was; I won’t lie to them,” Catra said, looking at Adora with sadness in her eyes before turning back to Finn. “Yes, I did, Finn, and it’s very wrong that I did. Adora and I have taken a long, hard road to get to where we are now and I don’t deserve the forgiveness she gave me but she gave it. Do you have questions for me?” 

Finn was looking at her with distrust and shook their head. Catra could feel herself breaking a little looking at the look on their face but she’d swore she’d never lie to them and never try to mislead them and this was part of that. Easy to stick with when it was something like them asking where kids came from because Scorpia or Perfuma was pregnant again. Not so easy now. 

Adora could see the tension but Catra looked at her and made it clear with a look she wasn’t to try and make everyone feel better about this. Adora took a deep breath and climbed out of the pool and put on her robe. 

“What happened to the massage?” she said, trying to keep her voice upbeat. 

“Bow finished his mud bath early and I let him have my slot,” Catra said. 

“We were about to get a snack. Let’s all three of us go,” Adora said as Finn climbed out of the water and pulled on a robe. As they started to walk, Finn went to stand beside Adora instead of between the two like they normally did and Catra flinched a little internally.

Later, as they sat around a little wire table on a balcony overlooking the slowly moving clouds Finn wouldn’t look at Catra and sat closer to Adora as they had a little cake and tea. It went that way for the whole evening as well and when they settled in for the night in their suite, Finn didn’t want to give either of them a hug and went straight to bed. 

“You shouldn’t have told them,” Adora said as she sat down on the bed and took Catra’s hand and ran her thumb over the top of it.

“I shouldn’t have caused the scars in the first place. I did though and I won’t lie to them now just to save face,” Catra said as she watched Adora’s thumb trace a little pattern over her hand. Then she looked up with scared eyes as she said, “Do you think they hate me?” 

“I don’t know,” Adora said. “Maybe they just need to work it out.” 

Catra wiped at her eyes a little as she nodded but didn’t say anything for a long moment. 

“I’m so sorry about what I did to you back then. Do you still forgive me?” she finally whispered. 

Adora nodded as a few tears slipped down her face and squeezed her hand as she said, “I still do.” 

“Thank you,” Catra whispered. “You deserve…”

“Don’t,” Adora said gently. “We’ve talked about this before. If I thought you’d be like that again, if I saw you acting like you used to, I’d have left you years ago. Do you remember?” 

Catra nodded and Adora squeezed her hand again. 

“Ok, well, we have another long day of being lazy tomorrow so let’s get some sleep, Snuggle Kitty,” Adora said. Catra didn’t say anything but just curled up into a ball in the bed as Adora lay beside her and gently scratched between her ears. 

The next day wasn’t any easier for Catra. Finn wouldn’t speak to her and they left with Bow and Glimmer early to go to the beach with them. Adora wanted to say something to Finn about it but Catra shut her down. 

“No. Their feelings are absolutely valid and you’re not going to force them to be nice to me,” Catra said. 

“That’s not what I was saying,” Adora said. “I just wanted to try and let them know you’re hurt that they aren’t talking to you and try to talk a little bit about it.” 

“No! Adora, I appreciate the thought but let them be,” Catra said. “Yeah, it hurts but I’m a grown up, I’ll live. If they have questions, they’ll ask us or they’ll talk to Perfuma but we’re not going to try and force this. Let them process it in their own time and way.” 

Adora sighed but agreed. Meanwhile, on the beach, Glimmer had already fallen asleep to the gentle noise of the clouds lapping along the sand while Finn had their legs pulled up to their chin as they watched the waves of clouds come in, some memory of the ocean flicking up for a moment before sliding away. Bow lay on his stomach as he flipped through the latest Mer-Mystery before looking up at Finn just sitting. 

“You’re pretty quiet this morning. You need anything?” Bow said. 

Finn turned their head to look at Bow but didn’t say anything at first. Bow waited it out as he’d learned to do and eventually Finn said, “Do you like Catra?” 

Bow put the book down and sat up as he said, a little confused, “Sure! She’s one of my best friends.” 

Finn frowned a little but didn’t say anything else. Bow waited but finally said, “Something on your mind?” 

Finn shook their head and went back to watching the clouds. Bow picked the book back up and went back to reading but kept watching Finn out of the corner of his eye. It wasn’t long before Finn said, “Why?” 

“Why is she one of my best friends?” Bow said as he sat back up. Finn nodded and Bow said, “Well, we’ve spent a lot of time together, she’s helped me a lot and I’ve helped her a lot, and she’s fun to be around.”

Finn once again was quiet as Bow waited to see what they’d say but when nothing was forthcoming, Bow didn’t wait this time and just said, “Is there something wrong, Finn?”

“Did you know she hurt Adora?” Finn said, not looking at Bow. 

Bow got a concerned look and saw Glimmer’s eyes open as Bow said, “When?” 

Finn shrugged and said, “I don’t know. I guess during the war?” 

Bow relaxed a little bit but said, “Yeah, I knew that.” 

Finn looked at Bow as they said, “How can you be friends with her?” 

“That was a long time ago,” Bow said as Glimmer sat up. “A lot of things have changed since then and she’s part of what’s changed.” 

Finn said, “But she… she left scars…”

“You saw the ones on Adora’s back?” Glimmer said. 

Finn nodded as they said, “I asked Adora about it and Catra told me about it.” 

“I’m guessing it’s bothering you?” Bow said. 

Finn said, “It is. I didn’t think she’d be the kind of bad person to do that, she’s nice but if she did that…”

Glimmer looked at Bow for a moment as Finn trailed off before she said, “She was a bad person back then but she really has changed. Bow and I wouldn’t be friends with her if she hadn’t and Adora wouldn’t be with her. I get it’s hard to understand but it’s true. As to leaving scars on someone, have you seen the one on Catra’s back?”

Finn shook their head as they said, “She has one?”

“She has several. They're hard to see because of her fur but this one is on her left shoulder. Probably about four inches long,” Glimmer said. “It’s there because of me.” 

“Were you protecting Adora?” Finn said.

“No. It was during the war. I did it out of anger,” Glimmer said as she remembered the room exploding around them both and the steel beam pinning Catra to the ground, causing the scar from where it had hit her shoulder. “Am I a good person?” 

“I… I guess?” Finn said. 

Glimmer smiled as she said, “I hope I am.” 

Bow took his wife’s hand as he said, “I think you are.” 

“I get why you would be upset about this,” Glimmer said. “You have to make up your own mind but for what it’s worth, she’s not like that anymore.” 

“What if she does it again?” Finn said quietly. 

Bow saw the brief flash of light in Glimmer’s hand before Glimmer said, “She won’t. She loves Adora and she’s changed but since you’re worried I’ll say there’s a lot of people who love you, including us, who’ll make sure you’re both safe.” 

Finn looked back at the clouds and Bow said, “Do you need a hug?” 

Finn looked back and nodded. Bow and Glimmer scooted over and gave them a big hug as Finn felt a little of the tension go away and gave a little purr for a moment before the two let them go. 

“Can you take me to them please? I want to talk to them,” Finn said. 

“Sure. Walk or the fun way?” Glimmer said. 

Finn perked up a little as they said, “The fun way!” 

Glimmer nodded and jumped them all to the room where Catra and Adora were sitting with their feet on little buckets of hot sand. They both looked up at the sudden appearance. 

“Well hello there,” Adora said. Finn looked at Bow and then Glimmer and they both nodded a little and Finn walked over to Catra. Catra watched them come with butterflies in her stomach as Finn stopped a little in front of her.

“Show me your left shoulder,” Finn said. 

“Um, ok,” Catra said, puzzled as she pulled her shirt up a little and turned her back to face Finn. Finn stepped forward slowly and looked. Covered by fur but still faintly visible was a four-inch scar as Glimmer had described it. 

Finn stepped back and said, “Why did you hurt Adora?” 

“We were on different sides of the war and we fought each other, a lot,” Catra said. 

“Why?” Finn said. 

Catra started to answer and froze for a moment as she tried to think of how to explain all the mixed up emotions that had driven her to be so terrible but couldn’t quite figure out what to say. Finn watched her closely and she finally said, “Because I was a bad person.” 

“Honey, I forgave her a long time ago,” Adora said. 

Finn looked at her and said, “Why? She hurt you!”

“Because sometimes, when someone works to be better and atone, you forgive them. You don’t have to and you certainly don’t forget what happened but you can still forgive them if you want. I wanted to,” Adora said.

Finn stepped back and looked at the two of them, wanting to let it go but at the same time not wanting to. 

“It’s not right what you did,” Finn said looking at Catra as they backed up a little towards Glimmer and Bow. 

Catra nodded and simply said, “No, it wasn’t,” because she didn’t trust herself to say something more without crying and she’d be damned if she was going to do anything that could seem like manipulation in front of Finn. Finn looked between the two again and then turned to Glimmer and Bow.

“Will you take me to the pools please?” 

Glimmer just nodded and as she reached for Bow he shook his head and said, “I’ll take the long way. I’ll be there in a few.” 

Glimmer shrugged and then jumped her and Finn down to the pools. Bow stepped forward to Catra as she started to sniffle and took her up in a big hug. 

“You alright?” Bow said. 

“No, they hate me,” she whispered.

Adora was right behind her, rubbing her shoulders as she said, “No they don’t. Just give them time.” 

Meanwhile, down in the pools, Finn went running and leapt into the big pool again, slicing through the water and diving deep into the pool near the center. The pool was fairly deep, deep enough that Finn had to adjust the pressure on their ears as they went down. When they reached the bottom, they blew out a little bit of air so they’d stay near the bottom and touched the rough rock that made up the bottom and just sat there in the stillness, listening to the silence. They stayed down long enough that Glimmer was starting to worry a little when they broke the surface with a gasp and stayed in the center of the pool, treading water a little. 

“You alright out there, Finn?” Glimmer said from where she sat on the edge with her feet in the warm water. Finn nodded and then suddenly dove again. Down they went again and once again touched the bottom and sat there in the stillness. They repeated this over and over for long enough that Bow had come back down to the pools. 

“They ok?” Glimmer said as Finn dove once again as Bow sat down next to her. 

“They’ll be alright,” Bow said. “What’re they doing?” 

“I don’t know. They just keep diving, treading water for a little bit, and then doing it again,” Glimmer replied. 

The next time Finn came up, they paddled over to the edge and sat their chin on the stone as they hung off the edge. 

“What’s down there you were checking out?” Glimmer asked. 

Finn just shrugged and said, “Nothing.” 

“Well, do you want to go do something else or are you just taking a break?” Glimmer said. 

Finn looked back over their shoulder and then pulled themself out of the pool. 

“I think I’m done,” Finn said. They spent the rest of the day roaming around Mystacor by themself and that evening when they sat down to dinner, things seemed ok. They didn’t talk much but they at least spoke to Catra even if it was to just ask for something to be passed to them. They finally went to bed, saying good night but skipping the hugs again. The next day everyone went home and Finn immediately retreated to their room. 

“Well that sure was a vacation,” Catra said, standing in the living room with just Adora. 

“I think they’re doing better,” Adora said. 

“I hope so. I don’t want them to have to grow up around someone they don’t like,” Catra said. 

It was two days later that Finn found Adora sitting in her office working on some bathymetry survey. 

“Adora?” Finn said, half in the doorway. 

“Yes?” she said as she turned around. 

“Why are you with her?” Finn said. 

“Because I love her,” Adora said. “I could say a lot of things but I know she’s changed.”

“How do you know though?” Finn said. 

“Because she did the work to change and I saw it and I see how she acts every day,” Adora said. “Anyone can say they’ve changed but she worked at it and shows it. It wasn’t all at once but… I don’t know. I know she’s changed. I wouldn’t be with her otherwise.” 

Finn stood in the doorway thinking a bit about what she’d said, “Are you sure?” 

“I am but if you don’t feel safe around her, or me for that matter, we can do whatever will make you feel safe. Even… even if that means you feel you need to live somewhere else,” Adora said, doing her best not to let her heart break at the thought. Finn looked at her and the thought of going somewhere else scared them and they started to shake a little. Adora quickly got out of her chair. 

“Do you need a hug?” 

Finn nodded and she pulled them in. 

“So you are scared to be here?” Adora said, trying to keep the panic out of her voice. 

“No,” Finn said. “I… don’t make me leave.” 

“No! Oh sweetheart, no! You’re not going anywhere unless you want to! This is always your home, as long as you want it!” Adora said as she pulled them in tighter. Finn nodded and after a little bit pushed back gently on Adora to let her know they were done with the hug. 

“I’m sorry,” they said quietly.

“There’s nothing you need to apologize for,” Adora said. “We love you and just want you to feel loved and safe.” 

Finn said, “Can I sit with you while you work?” 

“Of course!” Adora said and Finn went and sat down under the table where Adora worked at and soon fell asleep at her feet. She woke them up for lunch and as they both sat at the table and ate, Catra came into the house. She paused for a moment and then went over to sit down at her place. Finn watched her the whole way. 

When she finally sat down, Finn pointed at her and said, “You need to say you’re sorry to Adora.” 

Catra blinked once, twice, and then said, “For what I did?” 

Finn nodded. Catra didn’t hesitate and turned to Adora.

“Adora, I’m sorry for hurting you, both physically and emotionally. There’s no excuse for doing that to you and while I hope you forgive me, I understand if you don’t and won’t bother you anymore about it,” Catra said. Adora stood up and went over to Catra and pulled her in close as she kissed the top of her head and smoothed her fur back there. 

“You’re right, you did hurt me but I forgive you for it because I know you’re really sorry and I know because of what you do,” Adora said. They both didn’t move for a bit as they held each other and Finn finally stood up as well and went over to hug them both as well. 

“Do you forgive me too?” Catra said, her voice quiet and small. 

“If she does, then I guess I will too,” Finn said. 

**Author's Note:**

> This was one I went over a few times because I absolutely wanted to get it right. As I got close to the end, I wanted it be clear that Finn isn't going to just jump up and be cool with what's happened between Catra and Adora in the past. They've had too much of their own horrible moments to just let something like that drop. I've talked about in another fic about how, especially around this age, they very much saw things in terms of good people and bad people with no overlap ( _A Walk In The Woods_ ). It's changing a little bit here but it's still there. That's why I ended it with a hug but not a solid affirmative, "This is fine." We know Finn's going to come to terms with it since we see them older in my other fics and loving both Catra and Adora but I wanted it clear that it wasn't something they just jumped right into. 
> 
> As always, thank you for reading!


End file.
